


Perfection

by CrystalRebellion



Category: Voltron: Defender of the Universe (1984)
Genre: Cultural Differences, Enemies to Friends, F/M, Healing, I dont know what a one shot is, Post-Battle, Skinny Dipping, lotor is a scoundrel, theres some angst too, they did kiss, they might kiss
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-06-02
Updated: 2019-01-10
Packaged: 2019-05-17 11:02:46
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 4
Words: 17,588
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14831061
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/CrystalRebellion/pseuds/CrystalRebellion
Summary: In the aftermath of a Robeast loss, Prince Lotor finds himself needing to double back to Arus. Once there, he inadvertently crosses paths with a battle-worn Princess and the two have some surprising insight to share.  Fluff/Healing/Comfort (Lotor x Allura)





	1. Chapter 1

Lotor smiled wickedly as light glowed out of a familiar window in the Castle of Lions.  Night flanked the planet Arus, stars glittering overhead as the embers of the day’s war cooled upon their battlefield.  His personal cruiser skirted across the terrain for the second time in one solar cycle, eyeing the deep gouges in the soil and the metallic remains of Haggar’s robeast, still smoking.

His eyes slid back to the castle, eyeing the room he marked as the Princess’.  He grinned, feeling the familiar heat of conquest thrum in his chest.  The rest of the fortress seemed to be quieting down; only a handful of other windows were illuminated.

Uniquely, the castle was not the objective of his current mission, but a stop by to check on Allura wouldn’t be terrible – after all, it was only proper to spare a greeting when in the vicinity.

He laughed darkly as his cruiser arced in the air, diving away from the Arusian pillar of strength on the skyline.  Deftly, he dipped between the trees.

* * *

 

_“Sire, your father is ill,” Haggar said._

_“Again?”  Lotor glanced to her irritably as he removed his helm.  He’d barely had a moment to breathe since his return from the staggering defeat on Arus.  He set the war ornament aside and ran his fingers through his hair.  “Don’t tell me he needs those damned berries again,” he growled.  Though the prospect of returning to Arus wasn’t wholly unappealing._

_“No,” she admitted.  When Lotor’s jaw tensed, she continued.  “But the remedy **does** come from Arus,” she hedged as the prince turned away, uninterested.  He stilled, glancing back to the witch curiously._

_“Go on,” he encouraged._

* * *

 

Lotor cursed as the trees grew thicker the closer he flew to the area Haggar had indicated.  Unable to bring the ship through the dense forest, he landed nearby and stepped out, looking around the landscape.

“Witch, your directions are terrible,” he grumbled as he began making his way on foot.  He had little idea what he was looking for and was unhelpfully informed that he would know it when he saw it.

Haggar had gone on to explain that hidden deep within the forest on Arus, a cave housed an enchanted spring - according to some legend she had found. The water never grew cold and was imbued with healing powers.  He hedged that he was going the correct direction as the foliage grew thicker and the terrain more difficult to navigate – a spring of rejuvenation seemed like a secret the mystical planet would guard naturally, if it did indeed exist.

He paused to catch his breath, glancing around the forest landscape, finding himself marginally impressed by how utterly _wild_ Allura’s planet was.  _Nearly as wild as she,_ he thought with a fanged smirk.  The prospect of passing by her again refueled his energy and he began picking his way among the heavy, ancient roots of ageless trees.

 _This would be far easier with a robeast,_ he mused darkly. His thoughts stalled as he came upon an entrance to a cave.  His eyes flashed around the small clearing.  A nondescript hill, fully hidden beneath the rich, leafy canopy of trees sat innocently in the middle of the glade.

As benign as it looked – it was completely out of place for the region.  No other mountainous terrain was nearby, and as Lotor cautiously approached the small opening, he noticed a worn path leading down into the earth, a warm, soft glow providing just enough light to see the ground.

He had to credit the witch in one regard – she hadn’t been wrong about knowing it at first sight.

Carefully he ducked his tall frame through the short opening  _silently_ picked his way down the earthen path. 

Lotor pivoted around a hairpin turn in his descent and the sound of bubbling water met his ears.  The air became more humid and as he descended further, the scent of water lilies bloomed.

_Hellish demons below, could it actually exist?_

As the tunnel opened into a cavernous space, he froze.

It wasn’t the seemingly-magical sconces glittering on the cave walls, the stalagmites of crystal rising from the ground or the eternally-hot water flowing down a waterfall into a basin that caught his breath. The underground flowers blooming magically without sunlight didn’t merit his attention as he strode into the hazy, steam-filled paradise.

“Allura.”

Eyes the shade of ice and wide as the ocean itself snapped to his without warning, her skin turning a deathly shade of pale.  He approached her slowly, regarding as the princess deftly drew her knees to her chest and pulled her hair over her shoulders, scrabbling for some shred of decency.

Lazily, Lotor eased himself into a seated position on one bank of the sunken basin, eyeing her petrified form plastered to the far side.

“What… how… are you here?” Her bottom lip trembled as she released a shaky whisper.  He tilted his head to the side, studying her form curled in the waters, bare as far as he could tell of any scrap of clothing.

_This is certainly unexpected._

He reveled in what he could see of her – the steam and murkiness of the water obscured his view to a degree, but what was visible was enrapturing.  Lotor’s gaze skirted from the curve of her shoulder to the plume of hair to her face.

He frowned.

“You look terrified,” he commented.

He watched as Allura’s lips parted as if she meant to say something but no words came from them.  Her wide eyes swiveled around the room before fixing on something near him.  He followed her gaze and grinned when he saw what appeared to be a towel and a robe.

“Oh, did you want these?  By all means, my sweet, come and get them.”  He patted the ground next to where he was sitting, delighting as her skin flushed from ghostly to crimson.

“Lotor, I’m… I…”

He laughed darkly as she struggled to find her voice.

“What is it, darling?  You’ve never been so tongue-tied with me before.”

“I’m _indecent_ ,” she hissed out between her teeth, the surprise in her eyes melting into blue fire.

“I can tell,” he nodded in her direction, evoking a gasp from her as she wrapped her arms around the knees at her chest, trying desperately to curl in on herself.

“You’re an uncouth-”

“Yes.”

“-ruthless-”

“Also true.”

“-despicable scoundrel!”  She finished in a huff, her anger causing her chest to gasp for air, throwing her clavicle into stark contrast.  His eyes slowly trailed back up her throat, pausing in her lips as she inhaled sharply.

A moment of silence fell between them, punctuated only by the bubbling sounds from the waterfall.

“Why are you here,” he asked, his voice softer than he expected it to be.  The query left his lips before he realized he had even thought it in the first place.

“I…”  She blinked, trailing off.  Lotor watched, enraptured, as her shoulders hunched forward slightly, drawing into a more defensive position.  Every curve of her muscle, every raised bone, every flexed tendon stood out in elegant, sharp relief courtesy the strange, fiery lights flickering in the room.

“Allura,” he murmured her name again, stunned when her frigid eyes flashed to him.

“Why are _you_ here,” she snapped in return.  “How did you even find this place to begin with?”

“Haggar, of course,” he grinned, falling back into their usual banter with the return of her temper.

“Yes, well, you can leave now, thank you,” she muttered nodding to the exit, her hand curling around her shoulder protectively.

He grinned evilly at her and slowly rose to his feet.  He marked the surprise on her face as if she never thought he would listen to her.  Pity for her, he wasn’t.

“ _What are you doing?!_ ” Her voice thundered off the walls as he unlatched the belt around his waist, dropping it neatly to the earth near her towel. 

“Why, I’ve decided to join you, darling.”

“ _Don’t you dare._ ” Her voice was a lethal whisper, and he couldn’t help the dark laugh that bubbled from his chest.  Her fury was rich and he _thrived_ on her challenge.  A woman to match his own – he found her utterly decadent.

“ _Lotor!_ ” Her voice wavered slightly as he tugged the tunic off over his head and tossed it aside.  A low murmur of what he could only presume was an undignified strain of curses echoed from her as she pressed her hands over her eyes.

He kicked off his boots and with little effort, the leggings followed swiftly after.  He hesitated before stepping into the basin, curious if she would peek his way.

She did not.

He watched as her hair bobbed slightly when the water level rose marginally, his weight settling into the basin. Even as he reclined back, she still did not part her fingers.

“How long are you going to stay like that?” He chuckled.

“As long as you remain undressed,” she muttered back.

He lounged lazily, propping his arms up out to the sides, his fingertips brushing against the fabric of her garments absentmindedly.  The water was hot and churning around them, constantly flowing courtesy the falls.

“Then I believe we will be here a very long time,” he murmured, watching her carefully.

“You cannot keep me here!”  She snapped, dropping her hands back into the water to glare at him.  Her naturally narrowed eyes popped wide – was that a hint of a blush on her cheeks? – as she looked to him.

“I’m not stopping you from leaving,” Lotor laughed, grinning lethally at her. “By all means, if you want to step out of the water, I _encourage_ it.”

“You vile, wretched man,” she hissed in response, the pink on her cheeks deepening when his grin only widened.

“You flatter me, my dear.  If I didn’t know better, I’d say you were starting to warm to my affections!”

Lotor’s gloating chilled at the pained expression she tossed him across the water.  Her face was taut with hurt and tears welled in the corners of her eyes.

“Why do you hate me so?”  Her whispered words iced his chest in a way that he was unprepared for.

“Hate you?”  He stared at her incredulously.

“You hurt the people I care about, you’ve stalked me here – I have no weapon, I have no lion, I have no _clothes_ ,” she trailed off, shaking her head.  “It’s like you know precisely what scares me the most, as if you can read my mind.”

The heavy silence settled between them and Lotor found himself growling under his breath.  Her temper fueled his, her fury matched his own.  When she grew quiet, he found himself aggravatingly deflated.

“Why are you here, Allura?”  He lowered his voice in both volume and frequency, watching her closely.  Her eyes flickered his way before glancing back down to the water demurely.  She shifted.

“To bathe,” she murmured after a moment of thoughtfulness.

“There’s more to it than that, isn’t there?” He verbally nudged her gently.

His eyes narrowed when her frame squirmed uncomfortably, as if she were warring with herself on what to say.

“I came here… to… to heal,” she whispered after a moment.  Lotor’s brow furrowed sharply.  That was certainly not the answer he expected.

“Are your injuries so severe that your infirmary cannot treat you?”  His eyes widened as his pulse quickened, his eyes quickly skimming what he could see of her flesh for any marring.  He had always been so careful with the Blue Lion – markedly many times he had lost had been because of a decision _not_ to press her too sharply when he had the chance.

“No, they are… average.  Scrapes, cuts, bruises. Nothing severe,” she admitted, shifting her weight to raise her shoulder out of the water fully, exposing a moderate bruise cycling through the stages of accelerated healing.

“Then why come all the way out here?  Why alone?”

Allura’s fingertips trailed on top of the water absentmindedly as her form fell back beneath the murky surface and she shrugged.

Seconds bled into moments, and Lotor allowed the question to hang in the air.  Her eyes never rose to meet him, and he found her docile nature unnatural and unnerving.  Finally, she answered.

“Because I cannot ever let anyone know that the injuries exist at all.”

He blinked.

“I don’t understand,” he said flatly, feeling blindsided by her explanation.

“It’s not fair,” she murmured, tucking her chin against her knees, curling tighter into herself.  “The boys get to come back and talk about the close calls… what they could have done differently.  They compare injuries and laugh about it.  It’s as if it’s… a sport or a game.”

“And you…” he urged her to continue.  Celebrating victory by admiring the injuries was fairly common practice among Drules.  He could appreciate the tradition, but what he couldn’t understand was her reticence.

“Do you honestly think Keith would allow me to keep flying if he knew I got hurt?”  She snapped, her eyes flashing to his angrily.  “No.  The answer is no, he wouldn’t. _No one_ in that castle would allow it,” she supplied when he remained silent, a thread of bitterness lacing her tone.  “So while they get to relax and laugh… I feign exhaustion and retire to my room.  And then I come here.  The boys believe I’m resting, too fragile to celebrate with them – when in reality, I’m here healing wounds rapidly so that they never know they existed.”  She frowned, glaring at the water.

“Why-”

“Because I must, at all costs, preserve the illusion that I am never harmed in any way.  If a strand of hair is out of place, people grow worried.  …I suppose I should be grateful for the amount of care and concern my friends give, but… Lotor,” she turned to look at him again, a weariness in her eyes he had not seen before.

His throat tightened and he remained silent.

“Forced perpetual perfection is so _exhausting._ ”  She shook her head once and sighed.  “So no, in answer to your question, I cannot even use my own facilities to treat my injuries because then they would know they existed, and I would lose the one thing I crave most – freedom.  It happened once where it was bad enough they knew, and they nearly kept me from Blue Lion for it.  I cannot risk that again.”

“Allura,” he moved before he even considered it.

“ _Don’t!_ ” Her shrill noise of panic coupled by the quick recoil stilled him as he came to sit near her.

“I just want to look at your shoulder,” he murmured, his eyes taking in the tightly defensive position she had flinched into.  She eyed him with the wariness of a cornered wild animal, and Lotor respected that he was one wrong move away from getting swiped, as she was prone to do.  He predicted the reason she hadn’t yet was due to the fact her hands were tightly coiled around her chest.

He reached to touch her, moving slowly.  The soft, guttural noise she made when his bare skin touched her shoulder ignited a fire in his abdomen, taking him by surprise.  She weakly acquiesced as her skin flushed crimson, letting his fingertips trail down to the nearly-vanished bruise.

Her eyes were fixated sharply on something in the distance, Allura’s entire body rigid, unable to look to him.  His digits glided up to her collarbone, deftly tracing along the contours.  In response, the prideful princess drew in a ragged breath.

“You can stop that now,” she whispered uneasily.

“Would you like me to,” he leaned in close as his voice dropped to a whisper, drawing his touch up the delicate arch of her throat and through her hair.

“Yes…” Her whispered word trembled with uncertainty and a shiver vibrated down her spine.  Frustrated by her crumbling will, she turned to face him sharply, bringing her face nose to nose with his.  Her eyes widened as if surprised by his proximity.

“What are you doing here…”

“I heard a rumor this place existed.  I needed some of the water,” he supplied carefully, never taking his eyes off her. “You know,” he murmured, reaching up to hook his finger under her chin.  “You’d never need to hide a battle wound from me.”  He watched intently as her pupils dilated slightly.  She swallowed tensely, but allowed him the liberties her took. “In my culture, females fight just as the males do… we make no secrets of the results of our campaigns.”

She pulled back weakly and he, once more, found himself allowing it.  Her eyes were wary and guarded as she studied him openly.  He only smiled at her, leaning back against the basin side to watch her scoot further from him dubiously.

Allura shook her head once, coming to sit in the water near where the clothing rested, Lotor unabashedly occupying the spot she had been in before.

“I need to go back.  If they realize I’m not in my room…”

He stretched his arms out on either side of him, draping his palms against the back as he lounged and just shrugged, gesturing across the way to the garments easily within her reach.

“I’m not stopping you,” he grinned wider, delighted with how she looked between the towel and him.  He could easily see her rapidly calculating how to get the towel around her body before standing up without getting it wet.

Realizing the impossibility of it, she fixed him with a pouting gaze.

“Lotor,” she exhaled, frustrated.  He studied her a moment longer and shook his head, laughing at her naivety.  Slowly, he turned his back to her.  Before he even finished settling into place, a splash sounded, followed by the whip of fabric.  He listened until the rustling stopped and turned back to face her.

Her eyes were honed sharply on him as she stepped into a pair of white flats.

Lotor drank in her frame from her flushed features to the towel she fluffed through wet hair.  A simple white robe was tied around her body tightly, floor length and modest.

“You _are_ perfection,” he murmured, snapping his gaze back to her eyes just in time to see them widen in shock, her cheeks coloring brightly.

“I try.  I have to present it so-”

“No, Allura,” he cut her off dismissively, his voice low as he chose his words carefully, measuring her reaction. “It is not something that you _do_ , it is something that you simply _are_. Wounds and ruffles do not change that.”

Her hands stilled in the action of attending her hair as she stared at him in surprise.

“I’m leaving,” she announced after several heated moments of silence passed between them.  Lotor said nothing as she waited for a rebuttal. At his silence, she turned and made her way to the narrow passage leading back to the glade, pausing once to glance over her shoulder at him.

He flashed her a fanged smirk, delighting in the flush that colored her face before she scurried out of the cave.  He laughed softly, continuing to lounge in the hot springs.

A wicked thought struck him and settled evilly in his chest.  Allura had mentioned her self-healing practice was routine after every battle.

His grin widened.

Perhaps losing to Voltron wasn’t such a terrible option, after all.


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> I lied. It wasn't a one-shot. I'm not sorry.

Allura’s eyes scanned the room suspiciously.  Satisfied that her presence was singular, she exhaled the tense breath she had been holding.

_What were you expecting?_

She huffed, easing her body forward.  Her bones ached.  After her last encounter in the healing springs had yielded her an extraordinarily uncomfortable interaction with Prince Lotor, she was disinclined to take any chances. While she was relieved none of her castle caregivers had learned of her secret routine, she was still unsettled that the Drule heir was currently aware of it.

_Are you disappointed?_

The strangled noise that caught in her throat at the thought nearly undid her.  The princess shook her head once and reached for the crystal stalagmite in the center of the room for support.

Allura grunted, allowing her shoulder to rest against it as she thrusted her weight forward.  Looped over her side rested a bag, leaving both her palms free to push off the landmarks in the room. 

 “This is getting ridiculous,” she muttered as she caught her breath.  After combat, Blue Lion had raced back to the castle, the first to land.  With excruciating effort, Allura had dragged herself from the command center and made it out of the castle before anyone saw her.  The burn on her left hip made it nearly impossible to walk on her own, and she had forced her way to the stables and taken a horse.  She would’ve never made it to the grotto without it.

After stumbling down the slippery path and collapsing against the crystal spires, Allura finally dragged herself to the edge of the basin brimming with sacred water. 

She exhaled. 

“Alright.  The hardest part is over.  I made it.  Everything will be easier from here on out,” she encouraged herself.  Regathering her strength, Allura pressed up into a sitting position and dug into the canvas satchel.

Allura brandished a glass vial and deftly dropped a single drop of an amber liquid into the springs before resealing and returning it to her bag.  A moment of rummaging later, she withdrew an incense burner and a small torch.  Lighting the fragrance stick and setting it aside, she pressed her hands together in a prayer formation, bowing her head over them.

Her eyes flashed open and she stared at the water, a smile tracing the contours of her lips when a shimmering, pale light danced across the surface.

“Myad,” Allura greeted the water nymph that rose from the water – an ethereal entity crafted entirely from the light.  Allura glanced sideways as the sconces flanking the room suddenly sprang to light before her eyes shifted back to the spirit.

“Princess,” she murmured, lowering her head in deference.  “While your presence is always pleasant and welcome, it _is_ a little distressing to see you so frequently.”

“I appreciate the guidance and help you have lent me. But, when we choose the path of the sword, we expect this.  It is of little consequence to me.”

“Very well,” she spirit acquiesced. The ghostly form turned away from Allura, but her voice still echoed off the chambers.  “Be well, be healed.  As always, Guardian, you have our unending blessings.”

Allura bowed her head in reverence to one of the mystic creatures of her planet.

“Your friend seems to still be waiting, however.”

Allura’s head snapped up suddenly.

“What? My-”

The nymph vanished, leaving Allura wide-eyed and heart hammering.  Warily, she slowly looked behind her to the tall crystals reaching from the ground.

In the shadows cast by the firelight from the fresh sconces, a pair of glittering, golden eyes watched her intently.

“Oh, for stars’ sake!”  Allura’s temper ruptured as she stared down the infuriating man while he sauntered from his hidden alcove.  “Have you been there the whole time?”

Cerulean eyes narrowed on him as the warlord approached carefully and settled on the ground near her.  A moment ticked by and he merely studied her, the barest hint of a smirk on his lips.

“I asked you a question,” she ground out between clenched teeth, her fury mounting at the insufferable prince.  If she had had the capacity to rise to her feet and storm out of the springs, she would have.

“But you haven’t even said hello yet,” he teased gently, allowing the fanged smile to grace his face fully.

“Prince Lotor, you are interfering with…”  She trailed off when he only stared with vigor. 

Allura frowned. 

Something felt _off._  

He wasn’t his usual boisterous self; neither arrogantly teasing her nor making any demands.

“What happened?”  He only nodded toward the singes and burnt edges of her flight suit in the wake of her silence.

She snorted at him and turned her attention away, focusing on easing her body into the water as delicately as she could.  She stilled, glaring across the fluid at the sound of his dark chuckle near her.

“Were you expecting me?  You’re still dressed this time.”

“Scoundrel,” she muttered, letting the purifying liquid lap at her waist, her legs submerged as she settled in the shallows of the basin. 

“I… didn’t take the time to change this time,” Allura admitted after a moment.

She exhaled, allowing the magical, medicinal properties take effect.  She drew her right leg closer to her chest to brace her elbow against while the wounded one remained straight beneath the water.

“Why not?”

“Why do you keep following me,” she fired back with another question, glaring at him over her right shoulder.

“I wanted to see if you were injured.”

A second beat between them before Allura saw red. The pain in her body alone was enough to vaporize her patience, but the fact he had waited for her to be at her most vulnerable and to _inspect_ his handiwork put her over the threshold of patience.

A dangerous, controlled exhale through clenched teeth signaled her fury as her eyes draped closed.  With every ounce of control she could muster, she reined her temper in.  It wasn’t a physical battle she could win even at peak health.

When Allura opened her eyes, she coldly returned her gaze across the spring and sat patiently in the water, ignoring the dangerous man at her side.

“Allura,” he murmured in an attempt to beckon her attention.  The princess did not yield it, but continued to stare across the fire-lit water resolutely. His grin widened as she kept her eyes stubbornly away from him.

Allura sucked in a breath at the sound of a shift and she quickly swiveled her gaze just in time to meet his as he leaned over her.  The furious light in her eyes rapidly extinguished as alarm flared over her face.  She pressed her palms against the side of the sunken basin to push away just as his finger curled under her chin delicately, stilling her escape.

Her wide eyes remained locked on his, breath caught in her throat as his own glanced over her, absorbing every contour from the ridge of her cheekbones to the swell of her lips.

Allura swallowed.

“I’d like to know what caused that injury,” he repeated with an uncharacteristic gentleness, but classic determination.  She flinched as his other hand reached toward her face, only to deftly tuck a strand of hair behind her ear.  Allura released a shaky exhale, surprised by the unusual flutter thrumming through her body.

_Just adrenaline._

“You did,” she replied in a whisper, her heart stilling once more at the sight of the unmistakable tick in his jaw when his teeth briefly clenched.  If her answer angered him, he did not show it.

“I meant,” he clarified, speaking a bit slower than before, as if he struggled to keep his tone soft.  “What specifically.”

Allura blinked in surprise before her brow creased in confusion.  Her head jerked back slightly in an effort to clear the air between them and she returned her thoughtful gaze to the water.

“It… it was the stinger missile.”

“The intended target of that was the Black Lion,” he grumbled at the memory.  It was Allura’s turn to laugh softly, a weak smile tracing her lips.

“I don’t suppose you quite understand how a team works,” she mused, more to herself, her shoulders trembling in amusement.

“Even so,” he pressed, a strange growl emanating from his chest.  “That shouldn’t have caused burns interior to your ship.”

“No,” she agreed.  “It didn’t.  It _did_ cause a bit of an electrical surge, though, and since Blue Lion’s power comes-”  She froze, realizing what she was telling him.  Allura bit down on her lip thoughtfully – did she really wish to divulge information on the mechanics of her lions to her enemy? 

She tossed him a shy look out of the corner of her eye.  He was watching her fervently still, but he remained quiet. 

 _He already knows,_ she reasoned, recalling the battle where her lion couldn’t launch from the empty moat.  She exhaled exasperatedly and continued.

“Since her power comes from water, it… it overloaded one of the fuel cells.  My dash shorted out and there was an explosion inside the cockpit.  Small, but it was right in front of me.”  She finished nonchalantly before hazarding him a wary glance once more.  “Why?”

“Why, what?”  He blinked, his golden gaze widening under her scrutiny, surprised by her question.

“Why do you even _care_?”

The lethal look he leveled her with sent a chill running down her spine.  A stifled exhale calmed his temper marginally.  She frowned, stunned that he seemed so enraged by the question.

“Because I care if you’re hurt!”

“Maybe you should stop doing it, then!”  Her fury rose, unchecked.  “How _dare_ you come here to my sanctuary and ask me about the wounds _you_ caused!  What manner of beast are you?  Are you here to gloat?  I could understand last time was a chance meeting – but not this time. You _waited_.”  Her eyes narrowed dangerously as her chest heaved with anger.  “If you really _cared_ , you’d just leave me and my people alone!”

The last phrase dropped in volume and she hissed it out with a vehemence that took the Crown Prince by utter surprise.  Lotor slowly straightened into his seated position and regarded the Allura coldly.  His gaze never wavered and it wasn’t until her temper began to dissipate into concern at his unusual expression that he spoke again.

“ _Princess_ ,” he said carefully – _darkly._   A breath of cold flushed down her spine and she recoiled slightly from the tone.  “What do you think would happen to you, your planet, and your people, if my father came in my stead?”

The lingering resentment vanished entirely in the wake of confusion at his words.  When she said nothing, he continued.

“He came before.  Don’t you remember what happened?”

An icy dread coated her skin and a lump formed in her throat.  Allura parted her lips to inhale deeply in an effort to stamp down the nausea that threatened to burst forth.  Mutely, she nodded. 

Of course she remembered – how could she forget?  Her people had been enslaved, her planet burned and her castle utterly leveled.  If the Space Explorers hadn’t arrived when they did –

“And have you ever lost a fight to me?”

A painful realization crept through her, freezing the air in her lungs.  She shook her head numbly, eyes wide and unable to look away from him.  He couldn’t mean what she thought…

“And what cost has your planet burdened for my attempts?”

When she didn’t answer, he remained silent, waiting for her to find her voice.  A cold, distanced formality rested between them, and he was not about to allow her to escape a response.  When Allura tried to offer a shrug of an answer, his lips curled up in an evil smile and he shook his head once, indicating he required more.  She exhaled weakly in an attempt to grapple her voice.

“…L-little to none,” she whispered.

“ _Precisely._ ”

“…Why?”

The growl that left his throat belied his frustration.

“Do you truly not see it?  After all this time, you don’t understand?”

Allura flinched as his tone rose in volume and she pushed away from him into the deeper part of the water.  As her toes touched down on the basin floor to support her weight, white hot pain flashed through her.

The princess wasn’t entirely sure what she had uttered or what expression laced her face, but within seconds the pain had subsided drastically and she found herself elevated in the water with the agony rapidly decreasing.

Allura blinked as she became acutely aware of the two large hands grasping her bodily and lifting her weight up.  One wrapped around her right hip while the other curved across the left half of her ribs.

“Careful.”  Lotor’s voice was still soft in tone, but heralded the usual commanding lilt even as he delicately supported all her weight.

Panic surged from her abdomen to her throat, but she swallowed it down quickly, her own palms coming to rest lightly on his forearms.

“You’re getting wet,” she murmured after a moment, unsure what else to say after the Crown Prince had leapt in the water after her, clothes and all.

“Does it still hurt?”

Silence stretched between them for a moment.

“No,” Allura said softly.

“Good.”

She released a cry of surprise as he shifted her weight deftly, curling his right arm behind her knees and his left under her ribs, settling her into a more comfortable, reclined position against his chest, the left half of her body open to the healing water.

“Your heart is racing, my dear,” he noted openly, arousing a deep blush from her as Allura averted her gaze.  She squirmed lightly, but his grip didn’t waver.

She blew air past her lips in frustration before allowing her head to lull to the side, resting against his shoulder in fatigue.  Her hands curled daintily in her lap, wholly out of her element as she relaxed against him.

In her moment of acquiescence, she surrendered to his strength.  The exhaustion that permeated her very bones and laced her blood took over.

She had no fight left within her and he currently posed little threat.

She abated.

Allura allowed him to hold her, the last of her tension and resistance sundering against him with a single exhale, closing her eyes as the warm water lapped around them.

“I don’t understand,” she murmured.

“I know,” he agreed gently.  His body rocked back and forth gently in the water, cradling her in a soothing motion.

“Why,” she muttered against him.  She sniffed.  Something deep and sensual permeated around her and she blinked, realizing it was his natural scent.  Strong.  Dark.  … _Safe?_

“Why, what?”  The vibration in his chest startled her from the strange path she felt her weary mind wandering down.  She blinked and tilted her face to the side, startled to find her head fully supported against his bicep.

Allura stared up at him, stunned by the warmth behind his golden gaze – it felt earnest and genuinely curious, and without the hail of bullets or threat of destruction, the rough lines in his face seemed far less… _threatening_.

“Oh,” she murmured, coming back to her original question.  “Why… won’t he just leave me alone?  I’m not a threat to you or your empire… just… he could just leave me alone.  I don’t have anything he couldn’t get elsewhere, my planet isn’t particularly valuable,” she explained.

“Who, my father?” When Allura nodded, Lotor released a deep breath and raised his eyes to study the crystal structures before answering her question.  “It’s not about the riches of conquest anymore, unfortunately.  I rather believe he’d prefer to see the planet destroyed than harvested now.”

The sharp intake of air drew his attention back to her as she gasped.

“That’s horrid!”

“You stood up to him,” Lotor argued casually.  “It’s an insult to his honor.  If he walked away from that battle, more planets would resist his influence.  It’s about pride now, my dear.”

“That… backs me into a bit of a corner then, doesn’t it?  Fight or… lose everything.”

“There _is_ still a third option,” he hedged gently.  Allura’s scowl indicated she knew what he was driving at.  She shifted irritably in his arms in an attempt to slip from his grasp.

“Curse it, let me go,” she muttered.  He obliged – mostly.  He allowed her the room to stand upright with the healing her injury had endured, but he took her forearms firmly within his palms.

“Allura.”

“Don’t,” she warned, her fingers curling into fists as she felt the panic swell in her chest once more.

“What is it you fear?”

She scowled at him, muscles taut beneath his palms, bracing for the fight she knew she could not win.

“I’m not afraid of you.”

“You’re afraid of _something_ ,” Lotor pressed insistently.

“I am n-” She cut off quickly when he took her chin between his fingers and quickly lowered his lips past her face and to her ear.

“Then why is your heart racing,” he murmured against her.

“It’s… it’s not, I-”

Allura trailed off at the gentle pressure on her wrist.  The remaining hand on her arm had slid unnoticed to her palm, and his fingers pressed against her pulse point in the same instance his lips brushed against her neck.

“Oh, my dear, it _very_ much is…”

She shivered and tugged at her hand.  He only chuckled darkly against her skin in response.

“You’re a beast,” Allura whispered, pulling away from him suddenly.  As if sensing her limits to tolerating his space invasion, he released her once more and watched with a bemused grin as she flushed deeper under his gaze.

“Face it – I’m your only option out of this.”  His eyes narrowed as her frame vibrated with controlled anger.

“And how in the six heavens do you expect me to trust you?”

“Why is that a point of contention?  I’ve never lied to you – I’ve always been honest about my intentions.”  He tracked her body through a narrowed, serpentine gaze as she huffed away.  Her leg had healed mostly if not entirely based on the ease at which she hoisted herself out of the water, snapping up a towel from her satchel.

She glared at him while toweling off her flight suit.

“You don’t believe me,” Lotor commented, watching with rapt attention as the white fabric clung to her more than usual.

“You’re my enemy!”

“I don’t have to be,” he insisted, pushing himself up to the far bank of the spring, eyeing her.

The flash of fire behind her eyes marked her fury, but she paused, the breath caught in her throat.

Allura exhaled tartly, averting her eyes to the floor as she bit down on her bottom lip.

“You’re thinking about it,” he brandished a wide, fanged grin at her.

“Don’t be so arrogant,” Allura snapped back, stuffing the damp towel in her bag before shouldering it.  In a huff, she stormed to the cave entrance, determined not to give the man any more ideas.

“And yet you’re still thinking about it, Beloved,” he called after her.  The entirely un-princess-like gesture she bestowed him in response sent a dark chuckle echoing off the walls.

Catching his breath, he called after her as the sound of her footsteps echoed in the passageway.

“Think of me tonight, my sweet!”

The resounding noise of frustration from the woman left the evil prince laughing openly, the deep sound vibrating off the crystalline stalagmites.

“I’ll have you yet,” he vowed softly to himself as he quieted, the fanged smirk lingering on his lips.


	3. Chapter 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I keep saying this is a one-shot. I'm sorry. (I'm not sorry.)

Allura huffed softly.

She sat at her vanity, chewing her bottom lip thoughtfully.  Chitter scurried across the surface, pausing right in front of her.  She smiled warmly at her companion.  He chirped excitedly and she shook her head softly.

“No, not this time.  No injuries, isn’t it nice?”

She clapped her hands together enthusiastically as the mouse imitated a cheerleader before promptly falling on his face.

Her expression grew somber as she looked to her window and the darkness outside.  She rose from the dresser and approached it, drawing her robe tighter around herself.

In the glittering starlight, she could still make out the debris from the day’s battle.

_Nearly every week, he comes_ , she thought.  It wasn’t the battle or the aftermath that had left her sleepless and unsettled – it was Lotor himself.

Her brow creased.

* * *

_“Well done, team!”  Keith’s voice called out over the sequencer as the beastly Drule monster exploded into flames.  “Now for Lotor!”_

_Allura glanced across her dials before her._

_“Keith, they’re leaving us,” she said softly as the commander turned the attention of the giant robot on the fleeing command ship._

_“No chance – he’s given you way too much trouble, Princess!  Ion Darts!”_

_Her heart caught in her chest as the missiles struck the retreating warship.   An explosion resulted, and the machinery fell from the sky._

_“Direct hit!” Pidge cried out in delight._

_“Let’s go get him,” Keith continued, keying in the command for the lions to break apart._

_Black was first to land with Red and Green following right behind him.  Keith leaped from his cockpit and flanked by Lance and Pidge, barreled toward the fallen ship, his pistol drawn.  Blue Lion touched down and Allura stepped from her ship to watch her comrades._

_“You okay, Princess?  Don’t worry – we got Lotor this time, you’re safe now,” Hunk said gently, noticing Allura’s chilled demeanor as he stayed behind with her._

_“It’s not that,” she replied, leaning against the robot lion, watching worriedly as the three Space Explorers climbed into the ship._

_“Then what is it?”_

_“Nothing,” she replied, her voice soft as her arms tightened around her torso._

_“Are you worried about the guys?  They’ll be fine,” he reassured her.  When Allura only shook her head in response, Hunk’s frown deepened.  “…are… …are you worried about **Lotor**?”  There was no judgment in his tone, only hints of wonder._

_Her eyes flashed to the pilot and she bit down sharply on her bottom lip._

_“I’m not sure,” Allura admitted._

_“…It may not be my place but, I think that you are.”_

_“Empty!  Lotor escaped!”  Keith’s exasperated exclamation recalled Allura’s attention.  She looked back to her teammates as her hands fell to her side._

_“He’s not there?”_

_The soft look Hunk offered revealed he was the only one who caught the hopeful note in her voice._

_“No,” Keith replied, irritated.  “Sorry, Princess.  I thought we could have finished this for good.  Looks like he escaped in his personal cruiser before the ship crashed.”  He sighed in frustration._

_“Let’s head back to the castle.  It’s getting dark – we can clean this mess up tomorrow,” Lance offered helpfully._

_Allura nodded numbly, casting one last look to the Drule wreckage before stepping back into her lion._

* * *

“Oh,” she murmured, glancing to her shoulder at the mouse that had tugged on her hair.  “I’m fine, please don’t worry,” she explained.  “I just…”

Her eyes swiveled back to the cooling metal on her planet.

“Voltron isn’t supposed to attack anyone.  They were leaving…  I don’t think Keith should have done that, but I don’t know that I can tell him that,” she admitted to her companion.

A frustrated sigh later, she turned from the window and flopped backwards onto her bed, staring up at the dimly-lit ceiling.

“Keith said he escaped – and moreover, this is _Lotor_.  …so why am I so uneasy?”

She turned her head to the side to eye the gathering of space mice near her on the mattress.  She coughed violently as one of them swooned into the other’s embrace.

“Certainly not!”  Her cheeks flushed red at the implication.  Allura’s skin grew hotter when one of the mice pecked the other on the cheek.

“Cheesy!”  She chastised the pet, quickly sitting upright on the bed.  “I just.  I’m just worried.  Keith says he escaped but… I don’t… I don’t think I saw his cruiser eject,” she admitted.

She glanced over as the mice conversed amongst themselves before one made a motion resembling a magnifying glass and Allura’s head snapped to the window once more.

“I suppose doing my own search wouldn’t be so bad, right?”  She flashed a smile to the mice and stepped into her slippers before moving to the door.  She paused, and almost as an afterthought, she grasped the satchel hidden behind her bookcase.

* * *

“They’ll kill me if they find out,” Allura murmured, tossing a look to the darkened castle behind her.  “For so many reasons.”

Her soft, fuzzy slippers made no sound against the Arusian soil as she carefully picked her way across the landscape in her night clothes, a flashlight clasped in her hand and the bag over her shoulder.

_I just want to confirm Keith’s search.  That’s all.  I’m only nervous because I don’t have proof Lotor left,_ she rationalized internally.

Her breath caught in her chest as she approached the damaged warship.

_Approaching one of these has never ended well for me._

Allura exhaled and closed her eyes, taking a moment to corral her courage.  The torch in her hand moved over the exterior of the ship and carefully, she stepped into the wreckage.

Despite what marginally little interaction she had had with Drule technology, the interior glittered ominously back to her in a way that put her at ill ease.  She moved the beam of light slowly about the inside, eyeing the chairs, command station and doors to other parts of the ship warily.

“It’s not like he’s actually here,” she murmured to herself encouragingly.  If Lotor _had_ been on the ship, Keith would have found him.

The soles of her soft shoes made no sound as she approached one of the doors and curiously pressed the touch pad.

Allura jumped back when the door responded, sliding open at her request.  Hesitantly, she pointed the light down the corridor.

Silence echoed and with growing vigilance, she cautiously made her way down the hall, clutching the torch in her hand so tightly her palm nearly ached.  At the end of the seemingly endless walkway, Allura touched the next keypad, and the door, once more, opened.

Ice shattered her heart at the sight before her.

“No,” she breathed, her entire body suddenly numb.

Within the halo of luminescence, the infamous, frightening cruiser sat on its launchpad.

“ _He didn’t eject_ ,” she whispered violently, her eyes swiveling about the room.  There was no sign of a body nor any other life.

Her heart restarted in double-time and she turned and jogged back to the command center for a closer look.

A knot formed in her throat as the light swept the ground near the commander’s chair and revealed a dark stain.  Upon closer inspection, a trickle of the same liquid led to the gaping hole in the wall where the Ion Darts had struck.

She followed it, deftly dropping back onto Arusian soil, her flashlight searching the dirt for any sign of the crimson liquid.  The terra obscured the color from her in the darkness.  Frustrated, she began walking in the direction of the nearby treeline.

_If I were injured, I’d try and hide,_ she rationalized.

The beam of light kept sweeping from side to side as Allura walked slowly, looking for any detail, any hint of something out of place.

Her heart hammered in overdrive as Allura felt the dichotomous fear of both finding and not finding the warlord.  Either result had consequences she found concerning.

Allura’s body froze when the sweeping light fell on something silver in the foliage near the base of a tree.

She didn’t move.

She didn’t breathe.

After only a moment’s hesitation, she clicked the light off and stuffed it into her shoulder bag and flew to his side, kneeling in the brush.

“Stars, no,” she murmured, reaching for the weakened man, her fingers brushing across his cheek.  Allura didn’t have the time to contemplate _why_ she cared, she could only accept that she _did_ and move forward.

The pads of her index and middle finger brushed down to his throat, pressing against his pulse.

_Thrum._

Golden eyes flashed open at her in response to one of his most vulnerable areas being touched.  After a second, a flash of recognition rolled over his eyes and he released his grip on the pommel of his saber.

“Ah, so it’s time,” he murmured, a smirk lacing his lips as he closed his eyes again.  “At least Father will be pleased.”

“Lotor, stay with me,” she said, tapping his cheek gently.

He groaned.

“ _What?_   Even with _Enala_ , you’re still giving me orders?” He let out a low string of curses before laughing weakly.  “I suppose that’s my due.”

“Curse you,” she muttered, tugging on his arm.  “I haven’t the faintest what you’re going on about, but you absolutely cannot go back to sleep in this state.  Now get up.”

“Allura,” he murmured her name reverently.

“Yes, it’s me, drat it, now _up_ ,” she commanded, using all her strength to tug at his arm.  When the stubborn man still did not yield, she grumbled, settling onto the ground next to him.

Against his incoherent murmurs, Allura wedged her shoulder under his arm.

“I’m going to need your help to move you,” she hissed when he just chuckled against her.  “ _Up._ ”

With a Drulish swear, he at last bade her command and helped her push his body upright.

Allura grunted as he collapsed onto her, wedging her between his steel muscles and the solid tree at her back.

“Walk,” she urged.

His heavy frame of pure muscle draped weakly over her shoulder, and with staggering difficulty, Allura propelled them both forward.  Her palm splayed wide on his back, guiding his steps.

_Thank the stars he’s still conscious.  I’d have never been able to move him on my own._

Their pace was painfully slow as they moved through the wooded area, but Allura found relief in the fact he was able to somewhat move with her.  She eased his steps over felled trees and through thick underbrush before they neared their destination.

Twice, Allura paused to catch her breath.

Thrice, she nearly slipped and fell.

After what felt like aeons, the familiar glint of the otherwise nondescript cave warmed her heart.

“We’ve nearly made it,” she whispered to him as she paused to take her rest against the exterior.  She frowned, looking between his bowed height and the size of the entrance. 

The discrepancy stunned her.

“How in the six heavens did you even get in here,” she muttered, backing her way slowly down the sloping incline, curling his head into her shoulder to protect it from the ceiling.  He murmured something incoherent against her throat, sending a shot of heat straight through her spine to her abdomen.

Allura froze, recalibrating her thoughts as she curled the warlord protectively into her body to ease him through the small doorway.

Tentative steps later, she was nudging him carefully into the open mouth of the dark cave.  With a careful dance of weight, she brought him to the edge of the waters.

“Lotor, we’re here, we – _gods above,_ ” she barely had time to utter the curse before he collapsed against her completely.  Allura blinked, pinned beneath the sheer muscle of the man on top of her.

With more effort than she had ever exerted before, she extracted herself from under him and delicately rolled him onto his back.

“Stay with me,” she begged, shaking his shoulder.  He grunted an assent and Allura shook her head once, diving into her satchel.  What had been a passing afterthought on her way out the door had, in turn, become a divine forethought.

Her hands were quick with the incense and the sacred water.

Never before had she watched the surface with bated breath, anxious for it to spring to life.  Even when her own injuries had been substantial, she had never –

“Myad!”  Relief flooded her as the nymph rose from the glittering water to eye the princess worriedly.

“Princess, you appear to be in good health this eve – what brings you?”

“Can you help him?”  Allura reached for Lotor’s shoulder, her panicked eyes not leaving the mythic creature hovering in the font of health.  “ _Please._ ”

“Of course,” she murmured, her glowing eyes flickering curiously from the Guardian of the planet to her foreign companion.  “The water has been blessed, Princess.”

Allura nodded and looked back to the Drule with a frown.

“Up,” she instructed once more, earning her another curse from the man as he groaned.  “You can rest soon, but not yet.”

Lotor blinked at her in a daze, sitting upright by his own strength for the first time.  He looked slowly around the room before gazing back at her.

In a moment of frustration with how close she was, she kicked off her bedroom slippers and tossed aside her robe.  With barely a hint of propriety, she leaped into the waters before grasping his forearms.

“Come here,” she beckoned. 

He studied her a moment as water lapped at her thighs, catching the lace hem of the short sleepwear.  Lotor stared, as if unable to fully process what he was seeing before eagerly leaning into her.  Allura stumbled back into the water as his weight collided with her.

“That’ll work,” she muttered, grateful for the buoyancy of the water to prevent her from drowning.  In the depths of the basin she was able to maneuver him with more ease and settled him into a seated position, reclined against the side as the water lapped at his shoulders.

Allura exhaled in relief, her goal achieved.  She ran an exhausted hand through her hair, eyeing the injured man before her with frustration.

“Incorrigible,” she murmured, shaking her head lightly.

His breathing was shallow as he reclined his head against the stone.  Allura floated back into the center of the pool, the water reaching her shoulders while treading where it was deepest.

She studied his prone form, the way his snowy locks plastered to his frame… the contours of his muscles and – _Stars, what is wrong with me?_

Allura grimaced, realizing where her mind was going.  The slow rise and fall of his chest caught her attention and for the first time, she noticed the unnerving stain on his tunic.  The dark red seeped from his abdomen and fanned around the fabric.

“…Am I really…”

She pressed her eyes closed and exhaled sharply before moving through the water to his side, her feet taking purchase once more on the bottom.  Regardless of all else, she needed to see the wound.  The healing water would run its course, but if the injury were so severe that it would expire him before the magic could do its work…

Allura shook her head once, her cheeks in flames as she tugged off his gloves one at a time.

_He will never let me live this down_ , she groaned internally as her fingers peeled the red cape over his head and set the damp garment aside.

_Thank the heavens he’s not conscious right now._

In an elegant motion, the thick material of his ensemble peeled off his torso, his hair fanning over the expanse of his muscled chest.  Allura set the clothing aside to dry as she forced herself to look over his wounds, a heavy swallow in her throat.

_Power._

He promised unrelenting power.  His words, his customs, his mannerisms, even his body reeked of strength.  Allura blew air out past her lips in frustration as she reached forward, brushing her fingertips off the gash in his abdomen in an attempt to clean it off in the water.

Her eyes widened starkly when his palm closed around her wrist like a manacle, firm and unyielding.   Allura’s gaze snapped to his and she released a whimper beneath the force of his hold.

_Was this all a mistake?_

His eyes narrowed as he studied her before glancing around the cave.

“Why are you here?”  He frowned, releasing her wrist, as if his own question confused him.  His eyes snapped back to her with a furrowed brow.  “…why am _I_ here?”

Allura couldn’t stop the slight giggle that fluttered from her lips as relief thrummed through her.  She stepped back, withdrawing her hand back to her chest and closing her fingers around her wrist, replacing his hold with her own.

“You’re here to heal,” she explained warmly, pushing her hair out of her face and over her shoulders.

“ _Why_ ,” he insisted, his eyes glittering on her.

He blinked, his gaze dropping as he took in her garments – or lack thereof – as she stood before him in the water in the short cotton.

“…And _what_ exactly are you wearing?”  His brow arched curiously, returning his gaze to her face as she flushed crimson, her arms wrapping around her torso protectively.

“Don’t look!  I was going to sleep!”

His eyes flashed from hers to the pile of discarded fabric near the edge of the basin, including the white, fluffed slippers, scuffed with dirt from the woods.

His gaze slid back to her.

“Instead you came looking for me.”

She glowered indignantly at him.

“I just happened to be in the area,” she muttered.

“In your dressing gown.”

She exhaled with near-violent force and wheeled about in the water to storm back to her clothing.

“Of _course_ gratitude is beneath you,” she growled bitterly, hoisting herself from the basin.

“Allura.”

She spun angrily to glare at him, her fury freezing on her face as she met his eyes.

The prince sat reclined against the wall of the springs; the same manner and position he had occupied the first time he had found her.

“Yes?”  Allura’s features softened but remained well-guarded.  While his arrogant smirk lingered, the tips of his fangs protruding from his curled lips, his eyes belied a fatigue he otherwise masked.

“…thank you.”

Her heart stopped at the honest sincerity in his words.

_He meant them._

While Lotor’s eyes may have been flickering with unabashed delight as they glanced over her frame – much to her embarrassment – his meant the words he said.

Allura snorted and snatched up her robe from the ground, quickly pulling it around her body.  She paused as she tied the belt and curiously glanced back to him.

Warily, the princess eased herself onto the ground and sat facing him, crossing her legs beneath her.  Tapping her fingers together thoughtfully, she spoke.

“You’re welcome.”

Lotor leaned forward to touch the wound on his stomach, his fingers trailing over the contours of his frame.  Allura’s eyes followed with rapt attention, unaware she was even doing so until she accidentally bit down on her bottom lip too sharply.

As she gasped, Lotor glanced up in time to see her rub the offended part.  The wicked smirk that laced his lips was lost on Allura’s distraction.  Her eyes flashed to him suddenly and she stilled, dropping her hands back to her lap.

“How is it,” she nodded toward the injury.

“You could come inspect it yourself.”

As Allura’s eyes narrowed, he chuckled softly and shook his head once.

“You know you want to.”

Her fingers curled tightly in her lap as she continued to glare, refusing to acknowledge that he wasn’t incorrect.

“Your Commander is a hell of a shot,” he answered at last, easing the rising tension.

She snorted, turning her gaze away from him, eyeing the satchel she had brought with her on a whim, grateful for the quick decision.

“…I told him not to do that,” Allura admitted.

“I gathered that it wasn’t your doing.”

Her eyes snapped to his curiously.

“What makes you so certain?”

“Because I _know_ you,” he replied carefully, his golden gaze never leaving her features, even as she scowled.  “You’re not one to shoot someone in the back once the battle is called.”

“You know nothing about me.”

Lotor bit back a curse and pressed his lids closed in frustration.

“I’d know a hell of a lot more if you’d _speak_ with me,” he ground out through his teeth.

She startled, her expression softening as she considered his words more carefully than she had before.

“Well. We’re speaking now,” she hedged shyly.  Her eyelashes draped lower as she thawed her hostility.

“So we are.”

A strange silence filled the void between them; with one party calmer and more subdued than he normally was and the other unusually open to communication, neither seemed to know what to say.

Allura fidgeted self-consciously as he studied her openly, taking in her from her free-falling hair to the bare feet curled beneath her.

“Why?”  His words echoed across the chamber.

Allura blinked.

“Why what?”

“Why did you bring me here?”

“I told you,” she replied with a frown.  “So you could heal from your injuries.”

“No,” he admonished gently, shaking his head once before returning his gaze to her.  “I mean, why did you _save_ me?”

Allura blushed softly and shrugged noncommittally.

“A couple of reasons, really.  I… didn’t think it was right what happened, and…”

“And,” he urged gently.

“Well,” she laughed nervously.  “Who would come for my planet if you were gone?”  Allura’s lips curled into a wry grin, the blatant fear for Zarkon evident behind her rough attempt at humor.

Lotor studied her with such emotional intensity that Allura squirmed.  While he could read the legitimate concern for the old tyrant, there was something _more_ hidden behind the cerulean shields.

She shifted in the unending silence.

“What’s… what’s _Enala_?”  She raised her eyes to him just in time to catch his shocked expression before he schooled it carefully behind a guarded mask at the change of subject.

“Where did you hear about that?” His words were wary, as if she spoke of a forbidden secret.  Allura blinked in response.

“You did.  You mumbled something about it on the way here.”

He exhaled, closing his eyes as he leaned back against the basin.

Lotor cursed, regathering his thoughts before stunning the woman with his stare.

“What did I say?”

She shrugged nonchalantly.

“Nothing that I could really understand.  Something about me needling you with directives even with Enala,” she blushed under his look.  A grin cracked at his expression and the hint of a fang peered over his lip.  He closed his eyes and nodded once in understanding.

“When a warrior dies in combat, he – or she – is said to gain something called _Enala_.  It’s… a spiritual ascension, in a way.  A divine understanding.  It’s not… a place, specifically, but more a presence of mind.”

Her brow furrowed, a thread of concern lacing her at the idea that he thought himself lost from the world.

“I don’t understand what role I would play in any of that.”

“With divine understanding, we can resolve our deepest puzzles and explain our most difficult questions.  All that which plagued us in our lives is answered.  It's... peace, in a way.  For a warrior, at least.”

Lotor’s grin widened as he watched her try to wrap her mind around what he was telling her.

“You still don’t see what that has to do with you, do you?”  His serpentine irises dilated in delight when she flushed.

“I’m afraid not.”

A dark laughter echoed off the walls, stilling the breath in her chest.

“You, my dear, are my unanswered question.”

Allura’s eyes widened in surprise and the rosy hue on her cheeks darkened violently.

“I’m afraid you’ve really lost me now,” the princess replied, biting down on her bottom lip unsurely.

A rumble vibrated from his chest at the delicate gesture; it took the force of all his strength of will to resist the urge to replace her teeth with his own.

“You simply are,” Lotor explained dismissively.  “The person who defies expectations and counters all that I thought I understood.  The battlefront unconquered.”  He grinned at her lethally.  “It’s _magnificent._ ”

Allura flushed hot beneath his wicked gaze and she could only shrug in response.

“Well.  I don’t – _oh_!”

The princess’s eyes grew wide as Lotor deftly stood up in the basin.  Her breath caught as the water droplets ran down his form.  Her cheeks heated as she unapologetically followed a bead of water from his collarbone over his pectorals and down his abdomen until it was absorbed by the fabric of his leggings.

_Gods, his pants._

The soaked material clung to him like a second skin, outlining every flex of a muscle, every curve of an extremity.

She swallowed.  _Hard._

Allura knew he was watching her watch him – there was little point to feigning indifference or naivety.  She was utterly caught in her curiosity and she bravely, slowly raised her eyes to meet his, bracing for the arrogance and the taunts on his face.

She found none.

Lotor stared at her, his eyes nearly _glowing_ gold in the dim cavern, his breathing slow and his lids heavy.  No derision nor mockery laced his gaze, no victorious smirk adorning his lips; he instead bore an intimate, genuine intensity in his expression.

“Allura.”

The prince’s utterance startled her from her hypnosis.  Her name was rough on his lips, barely whispered but spoken with _need._

It _terrified_ her.

Allura leapt to her feet as he stepped up from the basin and onto the ground.

She scrambled to grab her slippers and shoulder the bag before he made it around the pool. 

Lotor was faster.

She cried out as he caged her against the crystalline pillar, her heart hammering in her chest violently as the man towered over her, water droplets running down his body still.  She berated herself for letting her defenses drop and losing track of how quickly his health had regenerated.

“Don’t,” she threatened, recoiling away from him.

Lotor’s palms splayed flat against the crystal on either side of her face, his nose inches from the crown of her head, but he did not touch her.

Allura’s body curled in, her chin tucking against her chest, eyes pressing closed as she flinched away. 

She waited.

She knew he was still there.  Even with her lids squeezed shut, she could _feel_ his presence. 

Before her. 

_Around_ her. 

She could smell him – a warm, wicked spice, laced with gunpowder and lazon.  Sensuality exuded from his very essence and promised of decadence, luxury and even security… all beneath a dusting of combat and war.

When he didn’t move, she slowly released the air she was holding in her lungs and weakly unfurled her defensive posture.  Cautiously, Allura opened first one eye then the other and tilted her head up to meet his gaze.

Lotor’s frame wrapped over hers but never touched.  His chest hovered inches from her face as her chin softly tilted up toward him.  Muscled forearms closed rank on either side of her gaze and silvered hair curtained around them both, droplets falling from the slick locks.

Her eyes flitted across his visage, taking in the lines of his face, the strange light behind his dilated irises, and the unusual softness in his jaw.

Allura shifted, startled to find that though her heart fluttered, she didn’t feel _fear_.

Cautiously, the princess unlatched the death vice her fingers had curled into in front of her chest and with a deliberate slowness, her left hand dropped to her side but her right reached toward him.

Lotor’s eyelids draped closed and he exhaled, his breath fanning her hair, as she brushed the back of her knuckles curiously against his cheek.

“I’m…”

Allura stilled when his eyes flashed open, honing on her expression with a velocity that surprised her.  Her palm froze in place against his skin and a heavy knot formed in her throat.

He didn’t move.

He didn’t flinch.

He barely even _breathed._

Lotor simply did something entirely unusual. …He _waited._

In the wake of his silence, Allura fortified her nerves.

“I’m… pleased you’ve recovered,” she explained, allowing the back of her hand to gently brush against his face once more.

His chest rumbled with a soft, heavy noise and she stilled briefly in her touch.  A subtle nudge from his cheek into her hand encouraged her to retake the motion.

She uncoiled her fingertips and allowed the pads to trace the contours of his expression from the hardened cheekbones to his rigid jaw line.

She hesitated.

“Go on,” he whispered, his voice rough and jagged.

She was certain that he could feel the tremble of her hand as she lightly dusted her tips over his bottom lip, reveling in the exhilarating sensation of touch.

A decadent shiver rolled down her spine when his lips parted slightly and she flushed hot from her ears to her toes when Lotor playfully licked at her finger.

Cautiously, she withdrew her hand and returned it to the clutched position in front of her chest warily.

“You’re trembling,” he murmured.  Allura’s eyes widened at the strange timbre to his voice.  He practically purred as he watched her.  The princess became acutely aware of the dormant tension in his body; his bare muscles around her were tensed, as if in violent war with something – perhaps even himself.

“You’re very close,” she replied, surprised by the own breathlessness.

“I am,” he agreed darkly.

Allura studied his eyes hungrily, her own feverishly attempting to divine some information about his intention.

“Are… will you let me go?”

Silence fell between them as he contemplated the question languidly.

“Yes,” he answered after a moment, yet he did not move.

Seconds rolled into moments and the liquid heat between them only augmented.

“When?”  His expression didn’t shift, but remained firmly fixated on her every expression, taking in the swell of her throat to the curve of her lips – to the wariness in her eyes.

“When you ask me to.”

The answer was so simple and honest that it stilled the princess’s heart rate briefly.

“What did you say?”  Allura flinched toward him incrementally without realizing it as her head lifted from the pillar behind her.

“I said,” he repeated, his body growing tighter at the slight adjustment in stance.  “When you ask me to.”

She stared at him in wonderment – at no point had the warlord ever put any of the power in her palms before, and now that Allura found herself handed control of the situation, she had no idea what to do with it.

“So if I asked you, right now, to back away from me… you... you actually would?”  Her lips almost curled up in a bewildered smile at the strange proposition.

“I would,” he affirmed, his eyes darkening.  He waited for the request – for her to fling him away.  To thrust up her shields once more in acrimony and –

A static discharge rattled him from his descending thoughts and his entire body went very, very still as an unregulated electric impulse surged across his skin. Wildfire scorched along his nerves and his heart  nearly ruptured with the magma that roared through his veins as the softest touch he had ever felt.

He'd endured lacerations, broken bones and burns alike throughout his conquests and battles - never had any of them come so close to bringing him to his knees as the one Allura offered him.

It was a chaste movement, hesitant and gentle, but it belied both a trembling faith and mounting courage in the warmaiden – though he’d be damned if she ever called herself that.  Allura’s lips left his as she recoiled back into her defensive position, eyeing him nervously after her brave liberty.

“You…” he exhaled, floored by the foreign action she had taken.

“So?”  Her expression darkened warily; suddenly worried she had opened a hungry floodgate in the insatiable man.

“…I… I am not certain even _Enala_ could explain you,” he murmured, finding his voice.   The hand on the left side of her face lifted from its place on the pillar and cupped her cheek with an uncharacteristic softness.

Her heart fluttered at the touch, his palm conforming around her jaw line carefully.  Lotor’s thumb brushed over her trembling bottom lip, studying her wild eyes.

“Allura,” he whispered her name.  A beat of silence passed.  “Stop me now if you so wish it,” he warned.

The Arusian’s heart hammered violently in her chest when she realized what he was cautioning her of.  A delectable heat flared from her chest and flooded her lower body and face, the pulse pounding in a sturdy staccato.

When a moment passed and Allura said nothing, Lotor annihilated the distance between them, his lips snaring hers with an aching neediness.

The princess released a soft noise of surprise against his mouth.  He growled against her in response when the warmth of her hands pressed against the bare skin of his chest.

Rough fingers laced through her hair, tugging her face closer to his.  Though her palms splayed wide between them, she didn’t press away as his opposite palm took the side of her ribcage, drawing her fully into his embrace.  The hand slipped around her back, cradling her shoulder, further supporting her weight as she shuddered.

Allura’s lips parted in a brief gasp of air against his.

He dove.

With the hungriness of a dying man, his tongue plunged irreverently past her lips and savored the taste of her, the princess’s slender form squirming slightly within his hold, but otherwise without protest.

A cauldron of bubbling heat tore through her – the 'butterflies' that ripped from her heart to her core felt more like incendiary dragons.  Bones felt like ash, blood heated to steam and Allura could only offer one response as her stoic defense crumbled.

She _moaned._

Lotor’s form pinned her bodily against the pillar, hips to hips, chest to chest. 

“I-”

She got no fewer words out before he stole her voice again.

Something firm pressed against her without warning and she cried out in surprise, the shock of sensation rattling her maidenly sensibilities.

“Lot-”

She growled slightly in frustration as he silenced her once more, and her palms rapped firmly against his shoulders.

“Enough,” she whispered.

The ragged prince broke his attachment to her lips and rested his forehead against hers as he took a moment to catch his breath.

“Can you… let me down?”  Allura’s words were a scandalized whisper, and his eyes snapped open and the look of heated desire sent another shiver down her spine.  His irises dropped away from her face and he looked over her form, a wicked smirk curling at his lips.

“But I rather like you like that,” he purred softly, taken by her stance.  At some point in the flurry of fire, he had opened the robe shielding her body and his thigh had taken up residence between her own, effortlessly lifting her off the ground and pressing delightfully into her, the small negligee barely covering any of her skin in the torch light.

Her skin flushed crimson as she squirmed in an effort to escape but found the friction of the movement unsettlingly electric, quickly stilling her struggle.

“Please?”

He chuckled darkly and made a show of hesitating before gently dropping her back to her feet and stepping backward, giving her the space to close the robe and reassess her dignity.

“…thank you,” she replied, her eyes remaining averted as she dutifully stepped back into her slippers.  “I… should get back.  Your cruiser looked like it was capable of flying,” she added, her expression returning to a stoic, studious form. 

When he didn’t respond, she scooted quietly around him, lifting the satchel from the ground and shouldering it gently.

Allura tossed him a wary look, the hue still lingering on her cheeks.  Nodding once, the princess turned toward the exit.

Lotor’s palm closed around her forearm suddenly and her heart leaped into her throat.  She wheeled to face him.

He blinked and looked down to the steel grasp he had made and released her before she had the time to demand it.

“I’ll walk you,” he said.  Without waiting for a rebuttal, he turned and retrieved this clothing from the far side of the basin, redressing in the still-damp garments.  He spun on heel of his boot, half expecting the skittish princess to have fled the caverns.

Allura stood watching him, hesitant, wary and guarded.

He stopped in front of her, glancing down to the coveted woman as she blushed beneath his gaze. Wordlessly, she turned and made her way from the springs.

A shiver flashed down her spine as her footing slipped on the earthen terrain and his palm connected with the small of her back to steady her.

“Careful,” he encouraged.

Allura nodded her thanks, swallowing down the flutter in her chest at the sudden, albeit chaste, touch.

“Slippers,” she hedged, blaming the footwear for the misstep.

“Of course,” he agreed, though his palm never left her back until they stepped out into the starry night.

It dropped away from her, and she felt a startling chill in the absence, but continued her studious hike back toward the wreckage, the hovering prince never far behind.

“I walked this far?”  He glanced around in bleak amazement.

“More or less,” she sighed wearily.  “Moving you is a test of patience, to be certain,” she added with a faint laugh.

“I’d imagine so,” he mused softly, eyeing her as she stepped over a fallen tree trunk.

“It’s much easier heading back with you in better health,” Allura chirped cheerfully, catching herself as she slipped once more.

“How did you manage this?”

His eyes swept the unforgiving ground, freezing when he realized she had stopped in front of him.  He returned his attention to her in time to catch a playful smile - an unusual gesture to be bestowed his way.

“I’m stubborn, remember?”

Without waiting for a reply, the bullheaded princess turned and continued her journey, winding through the trees and foliage until she led them to the crash site.  She paused, turning to look back at him, only to find him several yards behind, staring at a tree with an unreadable expression on his face.

“I was here, wasn’t I?”

He pointed to the place she had found his near-unconscious form.  She only nodded wordlessly when his serpentine pupils slid back to her.

“I think you should have all you need,” she hedged uncomfortably, suddenly uncertain what the next step in their elaborate dance would be.

Lotor’s eyes never left her as he approached the crash site.  He tore his gaze from her as he carefully stepped up into the hull of the ship.

Several impatient moments rolled by as Allura waited before she exhaled and took one last chance.

She followed.

The princess hoisted herself back into the warship.  She glanced around; surprised to see he had activated the security lighting, leading the way down the hall to the hangar.

With trembling shoulders and dubious thoughts, she chased the path.

“It seems to be in working order,” he uttered quietly from his stance in the bay, eyeing the cruiser.  Allura approached silently from behind, coming to stand nervously beside him.

“So it can get you home?”

“You could come with me.”

He glanced to her out of the corner of his eye, his arms remaining folded over his chest.

Allura only shook her head sadly.

“I cannot.  I have too much here that needs me,” she insisted.

“Why can you not do both?”

The princess’s body turned to face him skittishly when his full attention focused on her.

“My people need me.”

“How can you deny what you want – what just happened,” he insisted, watching in delight as Allura’s skin heated crimson once more.

“My people wouldn’t trust me if I made that bargain.”

“It’d not a _bargain_ ,” he grumbled, turning to face her fully.  Allura stepped back warily in response.  “…at least it’s not any longer,” he conceded.

The Arusian watched as he opened the hatch to the small cruiser and stepped into the pilot’s seat, turning to face her as he stood before the chair.  Wordlessly, he extended his palm toward her.

“Come with me.”

Her face steeled at the command and she took a reticent step backwards.  He pressed her further.

“ _End our war._ ”

The cry that echoed off the walls of the deserted ship were unlike any she had unleashed before.  The howl was primal and primitive, etched with pain and fury as her hands reached up and clasped her temples.

After several ragged breaths, she raised her eyes to meet his shocked expression, his hand hanging stunned in the air between them.

“It’s not so simple for me,” she whispered in response, trembling.  “I wish you wouldn’t make it seem so. ”

“Allura,” he began but she cut him off with a shake of her head.

Her expression softened.

“I truly am… pleased… relieved… _happy_ , even, dare I say it, that you’ve recovered,” she hedged.  “But I will return now.  I wish you safe travels home.”

As Allura turned away, he called out to her desperately.

“Wait,” he demanded.  When she didn’t relent in her retreat, he conceded a fraction of his pride. “…please.”

Allura froze in her tracks and cautiously peered over her shoulder at him.

He exhaled, appearing almost relieved to have stilled her.

“Allura,” he uttered her name again in a manner that resembled a plead.  Her brow furrowed in response.

As she waited, a cacophonous silence flooded them.

“I’ll see you again soon,” he promised, after a moment’s contemplation, easing himself down into the seat.

Allura’s expression darkened at the hostile promise before a weak grin cracked her façade.

“I look forward to it.”

Without another word, she turned and made her way back to the Castle of Lions from the wreckage, leaving a thoroughly stunned and chuckling Lotor in her wake.

"As do I, my dear."


	4. Chapter 4

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> ...this really is a never-ending work. Y'all will never believe me when I say it's actually finished now.

Ice.

Allura felt cold, despite flames being the last thing she remembered seeing.  Why was she cold?

_Screaming._

She remembered the screams – the shrill, high pitched sound echoing off her cockpit.  Her brow furrowed against her closed eyelids.

The screams had been her own…

Lips parted for a breath of air, the sensation burning from the hoarseness of her voice.

_Weightless._

Her body bobbed.

_Am I floating?_

Her lips pressed together tightly as another exhale left her.  Her weight came back, and Allura became distinctly aware of the sensation of hovering.

She grunted, her eyelids pressing tight before opening slowly.

Allura glanced around, surprised to find herself submerged in the springs.

“How did I get here?”

Her voice cracked, her throat weak and she inhaled deeply.

Her back was braced against a rock outcropping to keep her popped above water while most of her body rested within the mystic springs.

“Your friend brought you here.”

Allura’s eyes snapped to the worried, ephemeral expression on Myad.

“My friend? Oh-”

Allura froze as memories of the hellfire returned to her.

Lotor had brought an army of robeasts and laid siege to the castle.  They hadn’t ever stood a chance.  Tears welled in the corners of her eyes as she sniffed, her heart crushed by the prospect.

_He’d won.  He’d finally won._

“How did he bless the waters?  He didn’t have the offerings,” she murmured, glancing to the nymph.  A coy smile spread across the creature’s face.

“He was… fairly adamant,” she said carefully.

“Oh stars, did he threaten you with his sword?”

Allura’s eyes popped wide.

Myad only shrugged.

“He wouldn’t have been able to do any harm, but I didn’t feel the need to tell him that.”

The princess glanced down at herself.  Her white flight suit had turned crimson, and the water around her held a dinge to it.

She pressed up, wobbling on her legs as the water dripped away.

“How bad is the damage up there?”

Myad tilted her head to the side, as if listening to the surface world.  A strange, mystic smile graced the dryad’s lips.

“Perhaps better than you may believe.  All will be well, Princess,” she murmured mysteriously before vanishing, certain that her princess was in good health again.

Allura stood in the shallow water before stepping out of the basin entirely.  She covered the distance between the pool and the entrance to the cave.

Stepping out into the light of day, she looked around, expecting her forests burned and her deserts flooded.

The sky was blue.

The birds chirped.

The trees rustled in a crisp breeze.

Absolutely nothing seemed out of place; everything in order.  Grain fields whistled in the distance and Allura stared around, jaw agape.

A palm pressed to her temple and her brow furrowed.

"Surely I didn't... no, no.  That really all happened. Why..."

When no other answers floated to her, she broke into a jog toward her castle, mind running rampant with wild speculation and mounting anxiety.

Divots carved into her terrain from where the robots had clashed in combat, and while scorch marks littered the earth from the battle itself, no other signs of destruction showed.

She paused briefly to catch her breath, her throat tightening at the reminder of the battle.

With a deep inhale to steel her nerves, she sprinted the rest of the distance to her castle's bridge before skidding to a stop with a yelp of fright.

The two robot guards standing on either side of the bridge fixed their gaze on her at the cry of alarm.

Before the princess could palm her pistol, they shocked her by saluting in unison.

They did not draw their weapons.

They did not say a word as she cautiously walked toward them.

As she passed between them, she turned in a circle while back stepping, keeping her eyes trained on the soldiers.

Surprise and confusion floored her as the sentries continued staring out across her landscape, their backs to her as she stumbled across the bridge.

As she turned back to her fortress, she numbly noticed another set of guards on either side of the main entrance.

Her heart hitched into her throat as they saluted once more before opening the doors for her.

_They were waiting for me,_ she realized.

Dread clawed at her throat at the extension of the thought.

**_He's_ ** _waiting for me._

Cold terror curled down her spine as she walked cautiously down the corridor of her own castle.  It continued to heighten when she didn't see her friends, nor hear any signs of battle.

Only her boots clicked on the floor ominously, but she could barely hear it over the blood pounding in her ears.

Allura's trembling hands reached for the access panel, deftly keying open the entry to the command center, half-expecting it to be barred.

"You're alright!"

Keith's voice flooded relief into her system as tears sprung up in the corners of her eyes.

"Thank goodness, so are you!"

She rushed to her friends; the four pilots still in their flight suits, scraped, beaten and bruised - but very much alive.

Bandages wrapped around their more serious injuries and Pidge waved weakly from where he was sitting down, a brace of some kind around his ankle.

"Princess, where are your injuries?"

Allura glanced to Coran, a nervousness coiling in her abdomen.

"It's... ah... a long story.  I'll explain later... if I get the chance.  Is..."  She trailed off, her eyes nervously flitting around the command center.  More of the hauntingly docile Drule guards were scattered around, and as they others had before them, they saluted as she made eye contact.

"The throne room, Princess," Coran murmured quietly behind her.

Her jaw tensed.

_Of course he would be._

Allura glanced back to the pilots, noting briefly that while none of them appeared to have their weapons on them, the guards seemed to pose no threat.

Everything was simply quiet, as if waiting on something.

A deep sorrow settled in her core when she realized everything was in a state of stasis because _Lotor_ was waiting on _her_.

She exhaled sharply.

"Well.  Best see this through then," she murmured, turning away from her friends for what she hoped wouldn't be the last time.

The door closed behind her, and she found herself in the surreal position of walking past yet more stationed guards, each of them acknowledging her formally.

One tilted its head to the side to regard her curiously as she paused outside the double doors leading to the rarely-used room.  The entry was one of the few archaic mechanisms left in her sleek, modern home, utilizing the elegant, albeit rustic charm of model much, much older, belonging to a time predating the steel and shine of the rest of the fortress.

She swallowed, her palms curling into fists to stop the trembling.  As she stared at the closed door, the robotic sentry turned slightly toward her.

"Your Majesty?"

She jumped, startled from her trance at the sound, a slight blush touching across her skin at the title.  She'd been expecting slave transport ships and fire in her skies - not a formal and respectful nod to her rank.

Her brow furrowed with deepening confusion and she reached for the ornate handle on the door, carefully tugging it open enough to peer inside.

The large hall was empty, heavy curtains still drawn over the windows, keeping the room in a muted shadow.

Down the large aisle leading up to the two, matching chairs on a small dais was Lotor's back.  His head canted slightly to the side at the sound of the door. He didn't turn to face her, instead continuing to study the throne in front of him.

Gritting her teeth, she slipped past the door and let it swing closed behind her.

Her eyes flickered around the vacant room; the first room in her castle she had entered that _didn't_ have his sentries inside.

They were entirely alone.

She hesitated, her fingers twisting violently in front of her in a spasm of nervous energy.

When he didn't address her, her anxiety threatened to rupture.

"So," she began, clasping and unclasping her hands.  "You were right, after all."

"You fought admirably, Allura," he commended, speaking at last as he turned to face her entirely.

The full length of the room stretched between them, yet Allura felt entirely too close to the man just the same.

"We didn't stand a chance," she whispered weakly.  "Not against those numbers."

"That was the point," he replied.  "I trust you went to the Control Room first?"

Allura nodded numbly, and he grunted an assent.

Hesitantly, she placed once foot in front of the other, edging slightly into the room before pausing again.

"What is going on?"

"I've defeated Voltron, my sweet," he answered simply.

Allura frowned.  Something was out of place.  The traditionally proud man was far, far too quiet.  His voice carried a softer timbre to it and he did not approach her for once, instead hovering near the iconic seats.

"But... why..." She frowned, struggling to articulate her confusion.  "I didn't expect... _this._ "

"What _did_ you expect?"  A brow arched on his face as she took another step into the room.

"...slave ships, to be honest," she admitted.  Allura hesitated briefly, a fleeting worry that she might give him ideas.  "Destruction. _…Pain._ "

Once more, her hands clasped and unclasped as she spoke, her eyes darting around the room and evading direct contact with his.

Instead of commenting, Lotor raised his eyes to look to the covered windows.

"You don't use this room often," he observed.

Allura blinked, finding herself several more nervous steps into the room, nearly halfway to him.

"No," she replied honestly, folding her arms over her chest protectively.

"Why?"

Another weary exhale left her lungs.

"I had the room closed off after Father passed.  It holds too many shadows for me."

"King Alfor's the last to sit upon this, then?"

Allura's lips pursed taut briefly, her ferocity not entirely subdued.

"Was," she replied bitterly, her eyes flickering over his frame and how close he stood to it.

The temperamental warlord studied her intently for a moment, causing Allura to shift uneasily.  Despite the surreal situation unfolding around her, for once she was not the one with the upper hand, she reminded herself.

"Is," he corrected.  He missed the open shock that blossomed across her face as he turned away, pacing in a slow circle around the two seats.

As he moved out of the path of a thin shaft of sunlight sneaking around one of the curtains, Allura could see the thick layer of dust on the pedestal remained undisturbed.

As he prowled around the furniture, he began making his way down the aisle toward her, causing her breath to catch in her throat.

The princess locked her legs in place, refusing to back away from him as he approached.

"What... what is all of this, Lotor?"

He stopped directly in front of her, his arms folded across his chest as he peered down.

"Your choice," he explained cryptically.

"My... my choice?"  Her lashes fluttered in surprise at the strange answer.

"I'm giving you the choice you told me you do not have.  That your people would not honor a leader who chose to marry an enemy.  Now they will have no choice but to honor your wishes for peace, should you choose to form an alliance."

Her heart fluttered at the wild explanation, a slight tint dusting across her cheeks.

"M...marry?"

"So what do you say, my dear?  Will you become my bride?"

Her eyes narrowed suddenly and her voice dropped to a whisper.

"I don't exactly have much of an option right now, do I?"

"Of course you do.  Marry me.  End our wars, Allura.  Your people will never want for anything again," he urged, clasping her palms between his much larger ones.  It was not an unfamiliar feeling - a display of control, but never had it felt so _gentle_ before.

She didn't even bother to try and free her hands - her caged palms were the least of her concerns beneath the gun of his many robeasts and multitude of guards.

She squared her shoulders and tilted her head up to stare him down bravely.

"And if I refuse?"

He watched her, his expression tightening.  Allura's heart flipped in her chest; was she pressing him too far?

"Then I'll leave," he replied simply.

Her stupefied expression sharpened suddenly.

"I don't believe you.  You would go through this, attack my people-"

"Your people are fine-"

"Assault my castle-"

"Your castle is unharmed."

"Hurt my friends and I-"

"An unfortunate byproduct of combat, but their injuries have been-"

"And you're telling me you're _not_ here to enslave me and my people?"

A dangerous sharpness flickered behind his eyes as she yanked her palms out of his grasp.  She glared up at him fiercely, her breathing heavier from the bold move.  Frustration bubbled off of him when she was so quick to dismiss his words.

As a moment of taut silence rolled between them, Allura's courage began to wane and her expression softened.

"Yes."

Allura stepped back, stunned by his sharp reply.  She blinked owlishly at him, all her anger evaporating.  As his tense features remained unflinching, the princess replied the only way she knew how: honestly.

“I don’t understand,” she whispered.

“Did you forget our last conversation?”  He stepped closer, once more bringing himself to stand just a shadow away from her.  His left hand caged her shoulder gently, nudging her into his heartspace.  “…our last _interaction?_ ”

Eyes wider than the oceans of Arus themselves, she could only stare when his thumb traced over her trembling bottom lip.  Even though the fabric of his gloves, Allura felt her skin tingle everywhere he touched.

Memories flashed back to her causing her heart to flicker in cadence.  _Her back, pressed into the crystalline rock behind her, her front pressed into the stone of his body, **molded** with near-perfect precision into him._

_His lips against her lips, his hands on her flesh, the thin nightdress doing little to insulate her from his heat.  His **thigh** between her legs, corded power, pressing up against her_ -

“So you _do_ remember,” he murmured gravelly, watching with a familiar smirk as her blush deepened.

“Scoundrel,” she whispered, but the curse had no bite, the comment made more for show than with any true malice.

His grin widened lazily.

Lotor’s hand on her shoulder slipped up her spine, gently cradling the back of her head.

He allowed her a brief moment to recognize his intention and when no warning came his way, he snared her lips with his own.

A soft, indignant noise followed by a squirm pried him from her and he frowned at her flushed features.

She glared at him.

"Let go of me," she nearly snapped.

An eyebrow rose gracefully at the strange request.

"Allura, what's changed?"

"You!" Tears budded at the corner of her eyes. "I thought... we were making some kind of progress the last time we spoke, but here we are!  You're on my doorstep ready to take everything you ever wanted!  You’ve not changed at all!"

"I'm _helping_ you!  Trying to, if you'll let me!"

"Helping?" She almost choked on the word and gestured around her hysterically. " _Helping?_ You've brought an onslaught!  I had no idea you even _had_ that many beasts!  Your guards line my corridors, you-"

"I did what I had to do, Allura, to give you the ability to make a choice you think you don't have. Now you have it."

Her jaw tensed.

"How can I trust someone who uses such force..."  Her voice was a breathless whisper, and for the first time, he recognized the fear flashing behind her eyes.

"It was necessary," he clipped out.  "To minimize damage."

She frowned, her confusion evident.

"Did you mean it when you said you would leave if I refused you?"

"Yes," he affirmed.

Allura's face hardened.

"Then prove it.  _Leave._ "

He stepped back from her as if she had struck him, the wind leaving his lungs.  He stared at her in disbelief.

"Allura?"

"If you mean it, then get off my planet," she hissed at him, corralling the very last of her courage.  "I need to figure out how to defend against this kind of assault in the future," she murmured, touching her fingertips to her temple.

Golden eyes narrowed as he stepped around her, making good on his word.  Allura pressed her eyes closed as he moved past, not bothering to turn to face him.

Lotor hesitated at the door before a growl of a response echoed across the room.

"No one else will come for you.  The guards and robeasts will withdraw and self-destruct safely away.  Doom doesn't even know I'm here."

Allura's eyes popped wide at the admission, and she spun to look at the door as it slammed closed behind him.

She had no idea how long she stood in the darkened throne room, surrounded by the shadows of her past and the dust of her own history, staring after him.

She swallowed nervously.

"...did I just make the wrong choice?"

* * *

The door opened to the command center and Allura stepped in numbly.

The Space Explorers glanced up at the sound of the door and Coran was at her side in a moment.

"Princess, are you hurt?  What did he do to you?"

She blinked at her advisor for a moment before shaking her head once.  Her eyes skimmed the room, noting the sudden lack of Doom sentries.

"Where did his guards go?"

"They... they just left.  Without warning, they all turned and walked out.  Princess, what happened?"

Keith covered the distance, coming to stand at Coran's side.

Allura's blank expression warmed marginally.

"I... I told him to leave," she whispered.

She blinked at the sound of coattails when Coran whipped around, flying to the control panel in the room.  The screen flashed up, the landscape around her planet devoid of any soldiers or beasts.

"It appears that he has," he exclaimed breathlessly.

"What kind of dirty trick did he demand in exchange for that," Lance piped up, watching the princess's bewildered expression worriedly.  "Why would he come all this way just for Princess to tell him off?"  He turned his confusion to Coran when Allura only continued to watch the scans of the different parts of her planet.

"I don't know, but the Princess appears to be in some form of shock.  Let's get you to your room.  Keith, Lance, go on ahead of us and make sure her room is secure - I wouldn't put it past that evil man to have something up his sleeve."

Her guardian's arm wrapped around her shoulders as Lance and Keith jogged out of the room.  Delicately, he nudged her to follow them and she complied.  As they stepped into the empty hallway, he stilled her, turning to face her.

"I have a... delicate... question I must ask," he apologized, lowering his voice.

Allura turned to look at him, giving him her attention.  At her silence, he cleared his throat uncomfortably.

"You... were gone for quite a while, and now he's mysteriously left.  ...What... what did he _do_?"

She continued to stare at him vacantly for a moment before her eyebrows shot up in understanding.

"Oh! Coran, no, nothing like that!"

A deep crimson flushed over her cheeks when her advisor scrutinized her.

"Then how did you get him to leave?"

"I... I told him to," she murmured to the bewildered man.

"He's never done that before, why would he now when he had the upper hand," he replied skeptically. "Come, let's get you resting, you look as though you may be ill."

Allura frowned but nodded; her insides were twisting in an unpleasant manner, dread crawling through her veins.

"I have to admit, I didn't expect him to actually leave," she agreed, pausing outside her door as Lance and Keith stepped out.

"It's clear, looks like Lotor really has left," the commander said.

"Who've thought?" Lance shrugged beside him.

"Thank you for your work, boys," Coran instructed stiffly, ushering Allura inside.  "But now the Princess needs rest."

Allura turned and walked into her room wordlessly, causing Coran and Keith to exchange looks.

"So, Princess was pretty battered after the fight," Lance started, but Coran waved him off as she dropped gracelessly onto her bed, curling up on her side and staring out the massive glass wall.

Lance just simply gestured to her silently to finish his thought, indicating the lack of wounds while the pilots still wore braces and bandages.

Coran muttered something under his breath before nudging Lance all the way out, closing the door to Allura's chambers with himself on the inside.

"I'm afraid we still need to talk," he said gently, taking her desk chair to the side of her bed.

Allura stirred, rolling onto her opposite side so she could face her advisor.

He watched with a frown as she sighed, pulling the blankets around her body.

“I’m fine.  He didn’t… he didn’t do anything, Coran.  He…  he asked me to marry him one last time.  He said if I said no, he would leave.  …I said no,” she explained wearily, drawing herself up into a seated position to face the man.

Coran just stared at her and Allura’s lips curled up into a wry smile.

“That makes no sense to you, does it?”

When he only shook his head once, she exhaled, preparing herself to start at the beginning.  The time had come to share her secrets and hope for the best.

* * *

Lotor sat on the edge of his bed, staring vacantly at the wall across from him.  His cheek rested in his palm, propped haphazardly off his knee.  His eyes slid to look to the door as it opened.

“…Did you tell him?”

Haggar tilted her head to the side, regarding the moping prince curiously before she keyed the door shut behind her.

“No.  Zarkon does not know – nor does he need to.  I _did_ warn you that it might not work. Your fickle princess is always a dangerous variable in the equation,” she chastised him gently.  “What went wrong?”

“I’ve no idea,” he said flatly, looking back to the wall dully.  “Everything went perfectly according to plan.  It was a single strike; Blue Lion was disabled – the team surrendered immediately.  I carried Allura to the healing font…”

He trailed off, recalling the most flawless execution of one of his plans he had ever seen.  Even his father would’ve been impressed… had he known.

“The castle surrendered immediately.  Haggar, no one got hurt – just like she would have wanted.  We didn’t even damage the planet; just impact craters from the lions hitting the ground.  She recovered within the expected window of time – Witch, she even went to the Command Center first and saw her friends were still alive, what else was there?”

“That was it,” she said with a shrug.  “And you waited for her elsewhere?”

“I went to her throne room.”

Haggar scowled.

“It might have come across a little off-putting for her to find you sitting on her throne,” she chided gently.

“…I didn’t.  Haggar, she’s never used it.  That room has been closed up since… well.”  He ran his hand through his hair with a deep, weary exhale.  “I did everything _right._ ”

“Did you?”

Golden eyes narrowed on the older woman from over his palms, a grow rumbling in his chest in reply.

“Then that is all there is,” she smarted, undaunted by his lethal nature.

He slammed his fist down on his thigh angrily, barely feeling the pain of the strike against himself.

“Dammit.  _Dammit,_ ” he snarled.

“You took Arus.  And then you left it.  Your father would execute you for that.”

Lotor leveled the witch with a dangerous gaze.

“You’re the only one who knows,” he said dangerously.

“How else were you to get a dozen robeasts?  …I take it they were all destroyed?”

“…Bringing them back would’ve drawn too much attention.  Father would’ve noticed.”

“Well, I suppose we should plan your next assault then,” she said with a fatigued exhale.  “I take it we’re back to the one-beast strategy to keep King Zarkon appeased?”

“I’ll still need a robeast, but… I’m not going back.”

When she didn’t reply, he just sighed, burying his face in his palms.

**Author's Note:**

> I have no idea when this will end now, I can't seem to stop...


End file.
